Sports Industry: On the other side of COVID-19
One thing is for sure – sport is here to stay. Our love affair with sport is part of our culture. But what’s on the other side post COVID-19
Now that the wellbeing of staff and the financial frameworks are in place for most of our clients, I find my thought’s moving to life post COVID-19. For many, this period of time has enable us to move away from heads down tactical activity, back to what we know delivers long term commercial success – strategy. Not easy when your business models been turned on its head and you have no idea when it will be ‘business as usual’.
For our rightsholders, the importance of re-engaging their product with fans, sponsors and commercial partners – existing and new, has never been more important. Digital has played the primary role in helping them engage with fans during the crisis, but from what I’ve seen, I’m not sure whether short-term opportunities have been leveraged enough to do the same for sponsors and commercial partners.
If COVID-19 shows us anything, it’s how great the digital channel can be for engagement, consumption and conversation. On the other side of ‘lock-down’, budgets will be tight as revenue will be uncertain. Whether you are a rightsholder, sponsor or commercial partner, qualifying spend is going to be critical. Digital allows us to do this – it’s power to individualises a fan base opens up so many opportunities in terms of strategy, content, hyper-targeted activity, commercial qualification, retention and onboarding – I could go on. Of-course the right balance is important – this is about getting back in contact with the fan, not making them feel like they’ve entered a shopping centre; although one things for sure – everyone will be looking for a deal.
Will there be an opportunity to make money, yes – just less of it. Time for a plan.
Tom Matthiesen – CEO and Founder MANY Digital
MANY Digital transform sports businesses and drive revenue by connecting fan, rightsholders, sponsors and commercial partners through a pioneering ‘all-in-one’ digital eco-system
